Slope gage



July 17, 1956 c. A. HARMs ET AL SLOPE GAGE Filed Feb, 9, 1955 AUnited States Patent SLOPE GAGE Cecil A. Harms, Sebastopol, and Rollis A. Kennedy, Bakersfield, Calif.

Application February 9, 1953, Serial No. 335,952

4 Claims. (Cl. 33'70) This invention relates to a slope gage intended for substantially the same use as the pocket clinometer disclosed inour U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,498,083 issued February 2l, 1950.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of a simple, rugged slope gage provided with means simultaneously actuatable upon taking a sight with the device for simultaneously indicating the degree of slope in the two standard readings, one being a conversion of the other.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple, easily read and easily manipulatable slope gage in which one or more pointers indicate the degree or" slope 4upon inclning the device to correspond to the inclination of the slope and which pointer or pointers may be Vquickly locked relative to a dial or dials scanned thereby,

so that the device may be freely handled after such locking operation Without changing the reading.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a slope indicator that is more economical and simple to make and to assemble than heretofore, and which indicator includes a sighting means and a brake or releasable locking means respectively positioned and actuatable for holding the sighting means in inoperative position when the means for indicating the slope also held in inoperative position.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the claims.

ln the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective view of the slope gage in which the sight is swung to operative position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the gage as seen from p the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1 and in which the sighting means is in inoperative position.

Fig. 3 is a slightly enlarged vertical, part sectional and part elevational view of the device of Fig. 1 with the near half of the housing and with the near dial removed to show internal structure.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken substantially along line 4--4 of Fig, 3 with certain parts in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken substantially along line S-S of Fig. 3, but with the housing assembled.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken substantially along line 6 6 of Fig. 3 with the housing assembled, and in which the section line extends along the inner side of the housing.

Fig. 7 is aside view of the dial holder separate from the housing, and with a dial held thereby but on which dial the indicia is omitted.

Fig. 8 is a side View of one of the glass or transparent coverings for the viewing openings.

Fig. 9 is a view of the indicator assembly separate from the device.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of the cam shaft for releasing the brake or lock that locks the indicator needles rigid with the housing. Y

In detail, the invention as illustrated comprises a flattened vertically disposed housing generally designated 'ice 1, which housing is divided vertically into two halves that are identical, one half having one of the side walls 2 and the other half having the opposed side wall 3 (Figs. l, 2, 5). The half 2 is formed with opposed right angle anges 4 along its vertical edges that continue around the curved upper edge at 5 and half 3 is formed with corresponding side anges 6 and top anges 7 so that flanges 4, coact to form the opposite end walls of the housing when their free edges are in meeting relationship, and ilanges 5,v 7 coact to form the curved top of the housing.

A substantially U-shaped support within housing 1 carries the operating parts of the slope gage, said support having opposed sides 10 (Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6) that are against the opposed inner surfaces of the walls 2, 3 of the housing.

These sides 10 have anges 11 formed along their lower edges that extend toward each other and to meeting relation to form the lower closed end of the U-support, and a base plate 12 extends across said anges 11 (Figs. 4 to 6) and below them, to which said flanges are secured by screws 14.

The sides 10 of the supporting member are held in spaced relation, and to and against the side walls 2, 3 of the housing 1, by spacers 15 (Figs. 3, 5, 6) into the ends of which extend screws 16 that in turn have heads 17 (Figs. 2, 5) in engagement with the walls 2, 3.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that screws 16 function to hold the U-shaped support within and to the housing as well as to hold the side walls of the housing together.

A central shaft 20 (Figs. 4, 9) has reduced ends 21 that are journalled for rotation in the upper portions of the opposed sides it) at points midway between the end walls of the housing.

Carried by shaft 29 midway between its ends is a disc 23 (Figs. 4, 9) having V-shaped peripheral edge similar to a V-pulley. This disc is secured to said shaft 2i).

Above the U-frame that carries shaft 20 is an inverted U-shaped strip 24 (Figs. 3, 7) that is formed with a pair of spaced grooves 25 on its concave side extending longitudinally of said strip, and secured in these grooves are a pair of generally semicircular dial members 26 (Figs. 4, 7), which members extend centrally over and above shaft 2li and at opposite sides of the upper portion of disc 23.

The end edges of said strip 24 rest on the upper edges of a pair of U-shaped bracket members 27, 28 that are respectively secured to one of the sides of the U-shaped support carrying shaft 2d with said bracket members in substantial engagement with the end walls of the housing 1.

Between the legs of bracket member 28 (Fig. 3) are the corresponding ends of a pair of horizontally extending arms 29, 30. The arm 29 is spaced above arm 30 and a pivot 31 pivotally secures its one end to and between the legs of bracket member 28, while a pivot 32 pivotally connects one end of the lower arm 30 to and between said legs of bracket member 28.

The central portions of arms 29, 30 are curved to respectively follow and to fit within the V-groove in disc 23, and the end portions 33, 34 of arms 29, 30 are at the side of disc 23 opposite pivots 31, 32. Said end portions 33, 34 are in spaced relation, one above the other and extend at their ends remote from pivots 31, 32 between the legs of bracket member 27.

l A vertical rod 36 extends through portions 33, 34 of arms 29, 30, which rod has a head 37 engaging the lower side of portion 34. The said rod 36 slidably extends through portion 33 and a spring 33 reacts between portion 33 and an upper head 39 on said rod to yieldably urge the curved central portions of said arms 29, 30 against opposite sides of the disc 23 for holding said disc stationary at any point in its rotation. When por-A tions 33, 34 are urged apart, the disc is free to rotate.

Means is provided for moving the arms 29, 30 apart and for freeing disc 23, which means is in the form of a flattened central cam portion 40 (Figs. 3, 10) of a shaft 41, which central portion extends between the portions 33, 34. The shaft is journalled for rotation in the legs of bracket member 27, and the opposite end portions 42 of said shaft are of reduced size and rotatably extend through the side walls 2, 3. When the flat sides of cam portion 441 are parallel with said portions 33, 34, the central curved sections of arms 29, 30 will frictionally engage the upper and lower sides of the disc 23 within the V-groove, but when shaft 41 is given a quarter turn, the cam portion 4l) will spread the portions 33, 34 (and central brake portions) apart to free the disc 23.

The opposite, reduced end portions 42 of shaft 41, extend through walls 2, 3 and project outwardly therefrom and are square. These square ends t in correspondingly shaped openings in one of the ends of a pair of arms 43, 44 that are outside the housing. As seen in Fig. 1, the arm 43 is offset in direction away from the housing at its outer end portion 45 (Fig. 6) while arm 44 is straight. Otherwise they are the same, and a cross bar 46 connects the outer ends of arms 43, 44 so that they can be swung together. Also bar 46 acts as a stop for limiting the swing of the arms, as will later be explained. Screws 35 (Fig. 10) may be threaded into the outer ends of the reduced end portions 42 to secure the arms 43, 44 to the shaft 41.

The central shaft 20 has a pair of depending elements 47 secured thereto, said elements having a weight 48 secured between their lower ends, and extending upwardly from said shaft are a pair of pointers or indicator needles 49 that extend over the oppositely outwardly facing dials on dial members 26 so as to scan the dial.

Corresponding, oppositely positioned openings 50 in side Walls 2, 3 enable a person to view the dials and pointers, and glass or transparent pieces 51 extend across said openings and against beads or inturned flanges 52 (Fig. 4) formed around said openings.

These glass or transparent closures are each formed with an opening 53 (Fig. 8) for the shaft 41, and each dial 26 is also formed with a corresponding opening 54 (Fig. 7).

Each glass closure 51 is also formed with an opening 55 for pivot 32 and each dial 26 is formed with a pair of openings 56, 57 for pivots 31, 32. Thus the shaft 41 and pivot 32 function as positioners and supports for the glass closures and for the dials.

The near dial 26 in Fig. 1 may bear indicia and graduations that are in terms of measure of rise per a predetermined standard unit of length while the far dial (near dial in Fig. 2) may be in degrees relative to horizontal. These two forms of measure are standard, but some operators are familiar with one type while another may be familiar with the other type.

The adjacent lianges 4, at each end of the housing are formed to provide a set of complementarily formed recesses along the meeting edges of said flanges, and when the opposite halves are secured together, pins 60, 61 will be rotatably supported in said pairs of recesses (Fig. 3). A head 59 on each pin is against the inner sides of the flanges 4, 6 while the oppositely outwardly projectlng ends of said pins (or pivots) will extend through one of the ends of a pair of arms 62, 63, the outer or opposite ends of which arms are connected by a sighting bar 64 (Fig. 1).

This sighting bar carries a pair of opposed ears 65 at its ends, which ears are formed with corresponding semi-circular openings 66.

The arms 62, 63 and ears 65 may be coplanar and integral with the bar 64, and will tit flat against the opposite ends of the housing when swung upwardly to bring the sighting bar against the side wall 2 (Fig. 2) and said sighting bar is flat against wall 2 when so swung. This '(5 would be the collapsed or inoperative position of the sighting bar, and in this position arm 43 will swing over the arm 62 and the ear 65. The offset end 46 of arm 43 makes possible this action, and when the arm 43 locks or holds the sighting bar in inoperative position the cam portion 40 in shaft 41 is in the position shown in Fig. 3 in which the pointers 47 are locked relative to the dials.

The dials, their graduations and indicia are scanned by the pointers and all are visible through the transparent closures 51.

In operation, in daylight, the operator will swing the arm 43 upward (Fig. l) thus freeing the shaft 20 and pointers 49. The sighting bar 64 is then swung down and a sight taken through the aligned openings 66 in ears 65 on some remote object or point. The arms 43 are then swung down, thus locking the pointers relative to the dials and the reading is taken on either dial, according to the desires or familiarity of the operator with the dials.

If at night, and the degree of a particular slope is unknown and no light can be shown, a straight edge or board or any other reasonably straight strip can be placed on the ground and the base of the gage is then supported on such strip in a position with the base plate 12 corresponding to the length of the strip and the slope. By freeing the pointers, as explained, they will swing to -a position indicating the degree of the slope. The pointers can then be locked and the gage carried to some other place for reading.

We claim:

1. A slope gage comprising; a housing having spaced, opposed side walls formed with oppositely positioned dial viewing openings, a pair of horizontally spaced pointers, a pair of oppositely outwardly directed dials rigid with said housing and between said pointers bearing slope indicating indicia on one dial and a conversion of said indicia on the other dial, means supporting said dials opposite said openings for viewing through the latter, a pivot supporting said pointers within said housing in a position for scanning said dials upon tilting said housing in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said pivot, said pointers extending to one side of said pivot and a gravity actuated weight connected with said pointers and positioned at the opposite side of said axis for holding said pointers stationary upon so tilting said housing, sighting means on said housing tiltable therewith for alignment with a remote point, a mechanism connected with said pointers including a manually actuatable movable element outside said housing and locking means inside said housing actuatable by movement of said element to one position for holding said pointers rigid with said housing and by movement of said element to another position for releasing said pointers for swinging dials and housing, means supporting said sighting means for movement of the latter from a retracted position closely alongside said housing to an extended position in which it is adapted for sighting, and vice versa, said element being movable to a position holding said sighting means in retracted position when said element is in said one position.

2. A slope gage comprising; a housing having spaced opposed side walls respectively provided with flanges along their edges extending toward each other to meeting relation along their free edges to form top, bottom and end walls extending between said side walls, a pair of coaxial openings formed in said end walls, each opening of said pair being defined by the edges of a pair of opposedly opening complementary recesses along the meeting edges of said anges, coaxial pivots supported in said coaxial openings and a sighting bar having alignable sights thereon carried by said pivots for swinging said bar from a position projecting from one of said side walls to a position closely against the latter, and vice versa, a dial within said housing rigid therewith, a pointer, a pivot support- Ving said pointer for movement scanning said dial and gravity actuated means connected with said pointer for holding the latter stationary relative to said dial upon tilting said dial in a sighting operation, an element and pivot means supporting said element on said housing for movement of said element from a position extending over a portion of said sighting bar when the latter is in a position against said one of said side walls for holding said sighting bar in said latter position to a position away from said sighting bar for freeing the latter for swinging away from said one side wall, and locking means connected with said pointer and actuatable by movement of said element to its position extending over said sighting bar for locking said pointer rigid with said housing.

3. A slope gage comprising; a housing having spaced opposed side Walls respectively provided with anges along their edges extending toward each other to meeting relation along their free edges to form top, bottom and end walls extending between said side walls, a pair of coaxial openings formed in said end Walls, each opening of said pair being dened by the edges of a pair of opposedly opening complementary recesses along the meeting edges of said flanges, coaxial pivots supported in said coaxial openings and a sighting bar having alignable sights thereon carried by said pivots for swinging said bar from a position projecting from one of said side walls to a position closely against the latter, and vice versa, a dial within said housing rigid therewith, a pointer, a pivot sup` porting said pointer for movement scanning said dial and gravity actuated means connected with said pointer for holding the latter stationary relative to said dial upon tilting said dial in a sighting operation, an element and pivot means supporting said element on said housing for movement of said element from a position extending over a portion of said sighting bar when the latter is in a position against said one of said side walls for holding said sighting bar in said latter position to a position away from said sighting bar for freeing the latter for swinging away from said one side wall, and locking means connected with said pointer and actuatable by movement of said element to its position extending over said sighting bar for locking said pointer rigid with said housing, said locking means including a friction clamp and a member rigid with said pointer frictionally engaged by said clamp andV movable to a position freeing said member and pointer and said pivot means including a clamp releasing device in engagement with said friction clamp and connected with said element for movement with the latter.

4. A slope gage comprising; a housing, an indicating dial within said housing and rigid therewith, a pointer, a pivot supporting said pointer in a position for scanning said dial and a weight connected with said pointer for holding the latter stationary upon tilting said housing for sighting along the latter to determine the degree of slope, said pivot being a shaft rigid with said pointer and journalled for rotation in bearings within said housing, a disc coaxial and rigid with said shaft, a clamp having arms extending past said outer periphery of said disc and in yieldable frictional engagement with said periphery for holding said disc and pointer stationary relative to said housing, said arms being movable away from said disc, an expander between said arms and movable against their adjacent sides for moving said arms away from said disc, and a manually manipulatable element outside said housing and connected with said expander for moving said expander to move said arms away from said disc, sighting means on said housing supported on the latter for movement away from said housing to a sighting position and for movement from said sighting position to an inoperative position against said housing, said manually manipulatable element being in a position securing said sighting means against said housing when said arms are in frictional engagement with said disc.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 532,515 Woodworth Jan. 15, 1895 1,219,095 Flint Mar. 13, 1917 1,449,669 Grossman Mar. 27, 1923 1,709,310 Dahl Apr. 16, 1929 1,933,784 Wittel Nov. 7, 1933 1,962,045 Walton June 5, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 657,419 France Jan. 15, 1929 

